We flew into Tenerife North Airport from Lanzarote, and wanted a base in the capital for a short stay. We selected the 5 star Iberostar Heritage Grand Mencey hotel because it’s probably the best known hotel on the island, having been there since the 1950’s and only recently taken over by the Iberostar group.
First Impressions
The hotel is reasonably easy to find – it’s just off the Ramblas, which is a kind of central ring round in the city.
The building is lovely- very colonial in style as you can imagine from its age. The casino downstairs is heavily promoted outside, and we were given tickets for a free drink there when we checked in, but we didn’t try the tables.
You can access the car park directly from the hotel, the entrance is situated under the pool bar & restaurant. There is a drop off area outside the front entrance if you don’t want to wheel your cases from the car park.
The secure car park is just a short way uphill from the hotel entrance and there are marked spaces for hotel guests, the cost at the time was €12 per day.
There’s a lovely green space with mature gardens in the centre of the hotel separating the lobby bar and pool bar. Plus the gorgeous Canarian central patio area. The lobby is elegant, and the public areas feature some fabulous art depicting local dignitaries from down the years.
After a terrific lunch at a local restaurant, which was a short walk through the park directly opposite, we returned to check in, and that took another 20 minutes. Only two desks were operating, and the people in front of us seemed to want to know everything about their stay before actually taking their keys and getting going! When we finally made it to the front of the desk, it was all quite painless, and we were given a welcome glass of Cava while the card was swiped and passports copied.
The Hotel
We were upgraded to a garden view room, despite having booked a city view, and we were very happy about that – I suspect the city view rooms could be quite noisy. The room was good – two single beds, which were a little hard, pushed together. The room was very modern in style, with laminate flooring and bright walls and furnishings. It felt quite small, though. We had the usual disappointment at the lack of English language TV channels – basically BBC World service, CNN and Al Jazeera.
We went for a workout at the gym, and it was excellent! Well equipped and with a very friendly manager, Guillermo, who is a three times Lanzarote Ironman finisher! They have all the machines you need, and the front is open so you get a cooling breeze there. We didn’t use the spa – the charge was a special offer of €15 each, but that seemed expensive when time only would have allowed us an hour in there. I much prefer hotels which include use of the spa, even if its effectively hidden in the room price.
Considering the city centre location, the gardens were lovely, and beautifully maintained.
Food and Drink
We enjoyed a pre dinner drink at the pool bar, but we had dinner away from the hotel, so we can’t comment on the evening meals there. We had read on Trip Advisor that the breakfasts were really special, so we were looking forward to it. Sadly, we were disappointed! The restaurant is very nice indeed, with plenty of tables both inside and outside, and the service is good, although being a buffet, the waiters don’t do more than bring the coffee or tea.
There was nothing different from the usual offer of cold meats, cheeses, croissants and breads, and the hot section consisted of the usual slightly runny scrambled eggs and floppy bacon. Everything also tasted very under seasoned to me, and the coffee was diabolically stewed. Maybe we caught it on a bad day, but we really didn’t rate the breakfast.
The best thing about The Grand Mencey is the location – it’s superb for exploring Santa Cruz, and it was great to cross the road into a fabulous park and quickly get anywhere in town. The room was perfectly acceptable, although it didn’t have any “wow” factor, and the service and breakfast can only be described as average.
Summary
The location and ambience of The Grand Mencey are superb – a lovely building, set on gorgeous grounds, right in the heart of the city. The service is attentive and a little olde worlde, and the rooms could do with updating.
Travel and the area
We flew into Tenerife North with Binter from Lanzarote. It’s about a 20 minute drive to the hotel. We love Santa Cruz – it’s a fabulous city.
If you’d like to stay at The Iberostar Grand Hotel Mencey we’d be happy to arrange it for you, just contact us and we’ll get to work on getting you the best price for your dates.
